What’s the difference between the Android smartphones?

OnePlus has just announced its latest smartphone in Europe, the Nord CE 4 Lite, which promises to deliver an “all-round flagship-level user experience” on an “unbeatable budget”.

But how does the new Nord CE 4 Lite compare to Poco’s own budget-friendly X6 Pro? We reviewed the latter back in January and concluded “you’d be hard-pressed to find a more powerful phone at this price”.

As we haven’t yet reviewed the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite, we’ve compared its specs to the 4.5-star rated Poco X6 Pro so you can gauge which Android handset might be better for you.

Poco X6 Pro has a trio of cameras at the rear

The X6 Pro consists of three cameras at the rear which include a 64MP main, 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro lens, whereas the CE 4 Lite has just two cameras: a 50MP main and a 2MP mono. Although its predecessor had three lenses, we found that the CE 3 Lite felt like a “single-camera phone” as the other two lenses were both just 2MP. 

Even so, the main lens of the CE 3 Lite was capable of producing decent results thanks to “OnePlus’s largely tasteful software processing”. With this in mind, although we haven’t tested the CE 4 Lite cameras, we are inclined to think this could be a similar situation with the new CE 4 Lite. 

We then found the X6 Pro’s main camera to be “very decent” and capable of capturing plenty of detail, realistic colours and a natural HDR effect. However we did note that the ultrawide and macro lenses aren’t “up to the standard set by the other cameras and are best avoided for the most part.”

While the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 5G processor and comes equipped with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage, the Poco X6 Pro has the edge. It runs on MediaTek’s premium Dimensity 8300-Ultra and comes equipped with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. 

We found in our review that the Poco X6 Pro boasts a flagship level performance and using the handset was a “delight […] on a day-to-day basis” as its performance never lacked “even during heavy multitasking”. Not only that but the X6 Pro was also able to handle gaming at high settings with little issue. 

Although we haven’t reviewed the Nord CE 4 Lite yet, we have reviewed its predecessor the Nord CE 3 Lite which ran on the same chipset. We concluded that although the CE 3 Lite offered enough power for a “respectably smooth day-to-day experience”, its graphics chipset is “not impressive”.

The OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite has Aqua Touch technology

Neither of the handsets promise to be the most durable smartphone available. Firstly, both have just an IP54-rating for dust and water resistance which means they fall way behind other budget-friendly smartphones such as the Google Pixel 8a which has an IP67 rating. An IP54 rating means neither handset is fully waterproof although it should survive a rain shower or two. 

The display of the CE 4 Lite is fitted with OnePlus’ own Aqua Touch technology which allows you to use the screen even when either it or your fingers are wet. On the other hand, the X6 Pro’s display is coated with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 which was designed to withstand drops from up to 1.6 metres onto rough and uneven surfaces.

OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite supports faster charging

The Nord CE 4 Lite supports 80W SuperVOOC fast charging which OnePlus explains should take just 50 minutes to charge the handset from 1-100% and support more than 50 hours of use. 

The X6 Pro instead supports 67W turbo charging but Poco does supply the charger in the box, which OnePlus doesn’t provide for the Nord CE 4 Lite. We found in our benchmark tests that the X6 Pro could charge from 1-100% in just 45 minutes, which is actually five minutes less than the Nord CE 4 Lite’s promise. 

Finally, although globally the Nord CE 4 Lite will include a 5500mAh battery capacity due to EU regulations Europe will only receive a 5100mAh battery. Otherwise the X6 Pro has a slightly smaller 5000mAh capacity.

OnePlus Nord CE 4 is cheaper

Announced today (24 June), the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite will be readily available from July 1 and has a starting price of just £299/€399.

The Poco X6 Pro has been available since February 2024 and has a slightly higher RRP of £369/€349.90.